Idea Outline
‘Bikeline’ guides cyclists and connects them with other aspects of urban life. ‘Augmented bike lines’ guide the rider along safe and interesting itineraries, while a mobile app shows equivalent ‘virtual lines’ that show bike-relevant information.

The Challenge
The WIDE ADOPTION of bicycles as a means of daily transport is a pending challenge. Poor bike culture is rooted both on lacking infrastructures and on the difficulty of visualizing an attractive LIFESTYLE as opposed to the inherited car-driven one.
Our first challenge is to make bike-related INFRASTRUCTURES more usable, informative and attractive. We want to answer to the most common doubts of an urban cyclist:
—How can I get easily and safely to...?
—Will I find a place to park?
—Great, I found a bike lane, but… where is it heading?
—Oh… Where can I find a bicycle workshop?
Our second challenge is to make daily riding much more ATTRACTIVE; to build a system that incentivizes cycling by proposing treats —special deals, services and activities— towards an improved USER EXPERIENCE.

The Solution

The proposal consists of three main elements:
Physical line: Visual signs painted on the ground to guide cyclists through safe and easy routes across the city. Simple and visible for everyone, they attract attention, like saying: “Here’s something to help you! Get the app!”
Mobile app: Can be used to view and browse recommended routes. It then recognizes the one you’re following and changes to “ride mode”, displaying complementary information.
Virtual line: ‘Augmented bike lines’ displayed on the app make specific bike-relevant information, services, activities and special deals available for cyclists along a certain path.
This creates rich urban experiences beyond commute rides and errands, and works as an incentive for citizens to get a bike and use it as part of their daily lives.

Target group and social impact
The project is aimed at anyone using a bike in the city. It will be specially useful for NEWCOMERS, VISITORS and early adopters who don’t know their own way around the city and have not figured out how LIVE that way. The main benefit of this project will be to make cycling attractive for them.
While being a ‘light’ intervention, it will affect BEHAVIOURS and mindsets, thus having a huge IMPACT on bike culture in the long run and offering great EDUCATIONAL potential through specific activities along the lines. It will engage cyclists in the local ECONOMY, as many businesses will be able to provide services and special deals for cyclists and make a profit while SUPPORTING the system with a small fee. Usage of the app will also provide feedback to collectively improve bike infrastructures.

Competences of the applicant
Ecosistema Urbano (ecosistemaurbano.com) is an urban agency working on both the physical and the digital aspects of the city, combining social, technological and environmental approaches in order to empower citizens and create more livable spaces. We have lead the development of open source applications like whatif.es, for which we work in collaboration with very skilled web and mobile developers.